How You Use Your Power Matters

We've all faced the choice— guide or gatekeep.

Every role we have, personal and professional, has the potential to guide or gatekeep.

The difference between a guide and a gatekeeper is not the position. It is the posture.

Your approach to managing situations matters.

- Guides help others move forward.
- Gatekeepers make others prove they deserve to move forward. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, standards are extremely important. 

But even when boundaries are necessary, empathy and compassion are still possible.

“No” does not have to feel like heartless rejection. It can sound like redirection or protection.

The ability to redirect someone with grace is a key difference between a guide and a gatekeeper. 

Whatever your role is at work, in the community, or in relationships, you begin to lose trust the moment you forget that helping others is a privilege, not a burden.

A title may give you authority, but how you use your power determines whether people trust and respect you.

Having authority does not make you a gatekeeper. Using it without empathy and compassion does.

People often remember how you handled their request more than whether you said yes or no. 

Use your power wisely and treat others how you would want someone to treat you.

How do people feel after you say no... respected or rejected?